Mental-health counseling available thanks to volunteers

Denise Rose was grieving the loss of her mother, raising a son with special needs and approaching her 50th birthday when she found herself overwhelmed.

Misti Crane, The Columbus Dispatch

Denise Rose was grieving the loss of her mother, raising a son with special needs and approaching her 50th birthday when she found herself overwhelmed.

ďI said, ĎIím depressed. Iím just really going down a slippery slope, and I donít have my mom to talk to,í??Ē said the Westerville woman, who also was unemployed and uninsured at the time.

For most people in her circumstances, the obstacles to getting mental-health care would be huge. But in Franklin County, people who cannot pay have been linked with volunteer counselors for two years through a program run by Mental Health America of Franklin County.

Rose, one of hundreds of people who have benefited, couldnít be more grateful.

ďIím healthier mentally and emotionally. Iím able to talk about the things I think Iím still trying to understand,Ē she said. ďTo take care of our mental health is to love ourselves.Ē

When the program started, Executive Director Laura Moskow Sigal said she expected 60 volunteers to help 120 people in the first year. In two years, 408 people have been seen by 175 volunteer counselors who have provided more than 2,620 hours of their time. And Sigalís group now is working to expand the program, first to Hamilton County and then to Licking and Fairfield counties. The plan is to include all of Franklinís surrounding counties within a year.Funding for a program director, office expenses and insurance has come from multiple sources and currently is supported by a $125,000 grant from the countyís Alcohol, Drug and Mental Health Board. The Columbus Foundation and Columbus Medical Association Foundation are supporting work to expand into other counties.

Sigal and Heather Stumpf, who directs the program, said they could use more volunteers, especially in the far eastern and southern parts of the county. New clients currently wait about four weeks for an appointment.

The program is designed to help people with mental-health challenges that are likely to improve after a limited number of visits. They donít provide intensive therapy or rehab for addicts.

When people call for help and arenít a good fit for the program, the staff works to find them appropriate care, Stumpf said.

Most of the people who have seen volunteer counselors have been depressed or anxious. In most cases, they meet in the providerís office or in a community setting such as a library or church. A team of volunteer students from Ohio State University is stationed at the Columbus Neighborhood Health Center on the West Side. That work is supported by a federal grant and aims to put mental-health and physical-health services under the same roof.

Stumpf is tracking how clients do after therapy and said that 86 percent say theyíve made progress.

Laura Lewis, a counselor at the Wellness Institute in Worthington, signed up when the program started. She said she felt that volunteering was the professionally responsible thing to do.Lewis has helped three people so far and has encouraged colleagues to volunteer as well. The three people she counseled had lost jobs and were experiencing anxiety and depression. She said she worked with them to hone coping skills.ďA lot of people would have a better quality of life and be more joyful and feel (better) if this was a part of their daily living that could be attended to,Ē she said.

For information about the counseling program, visit www.mhafc.org or call 614-884-7227.